[jacs]

Originally Posted by menonrajesh

I did this weekend (BLR - TCR) and I was stuck for 30 minutes just before the bridge in Vaniyampara and kuthiran. Remaining part of journey was smooth, but the above mentioned wait undid all the good feeling.

I had travelled to Kottayam during last weekend but in Bus, still manage to notice that the only heck is the Kuthiran stretch which is bad and work is on progress which creates lot of road block (we lost almost 1 and a half hour to cross even in early morning). Rest of the bad stretches are been patched.

[abhilash_iv]

Originally Posted by vivekkr_99

Hi,
Has anybody done the Thrissur - Calicut - Kannur route of late? I'm planning to drive to Kannur this weekend. Would like to know the road conditions in this route. Can anyone help me?

I did a Ekm-Kodungallur-Chavakkad-Ponnani-Kuttipuram-Kozhikode-Kannur trip last week.
Road is excellent until Ponnani. After that Ponnani-Kuttipuram NH is so-so. No big potholes. Usually I take the ponnai-edapal-kuttipuram route, but heard from a friend that this stretch is bad now. Kuttipuram-Kozhikode is again good. Take the by-pass and join Eranhipalam junction. From there usual route. Kozhikode-Kannur is not so good. The top layer is gone in most places. So the ride is not good till Vadakara.

[thomasmatthew]

I am planning a small trip from Trivandrum to Ernakulam by road. I tried to get a hang of the current road conditions by looking at the other threads.

The traffic during the daytime seems to be a real dampener. However i am thinking of starting early morning( 5 AM). Just wanted to know how long would it take approximately to reach Ernakulam. Would i be able to avoid the high traffic?

I am basically looking at this route from: Trivandrum, Kerala to: Panampilly Nagar, Ernakulam, Kerala State - Google Maps
Would like to know about the current road condition from folks who have travelled recently.

Any pointers/ help is welcome.

-Thomas

[hellstar]

Originally Posted by thomasmatthew

I am planning a small trip from Trivandrum to Ernakulam by road. I tried to get a hang of the current road conditions by looking at the other threads.

The traffic during the daytime seems to be a real dampener. However i am thinking of starting early morning( 5 AM). Just wanted to know how long would it take approximately to reach Ernakulam. Would i be able to avoid the high traffic?

I am basically looking at this route from: Trivandrum, Kerala to: Panampilly Nagar, Ernakulam, Kerala State - Google Maps
Would like to know about the current road condition from folks who have travelled recently.

Any pointers/ help is welcome.

-Thomas

Travlled through this strech day before yesterday , TVM - kollaam is a breeze, about 20 kms after kollam is bad then till allepy is smooth , but do look out for the rougue potholes.

Allepy to Cherthalai is so-so after that its ok but watch out for the deviations. From there till vytilla is a breeze but for the bridge !

An early start 0500 and steady speeds should make ur travel time less i personally would have started at 0400 hrs and made it to cochin my 0700 hrs. And hey do remember that the rains may affect the speeds that you can maintain .

[vivekkr_99]

Originally Posted by abhilash_iv

I did a Ekm-Kodungallur-Chavakkad-Ponnani-Kuttipuram-Kozhikode-Kannur trip last week.
Road is excellent until Ponnani. After that Ponnani-Kuttipuram NH is so-so. No big potholes. Usually I take the ponnai-edapal-kuttipuram route, but heard from a friend that this stretch is bad now. Kuttipuram-Kozhikode is again good. Take the by-pass and join Eranhipalam junction. From there usual route. Kozhikode-Kannur is not so good. The top layer is gone in most places. So the ride is not good till Vadakara.

Thanks Abhilash for the information. I drove from Trivandrum to Payyannur last weekend, and the roads at Thalassery are in a really bad shape. There are big potholes in major towns (Mahe, Thalassery, Thalipparambu, Payyannur) etc. Also heard that the route till Kanjangad is in a bad shape.
Also the stretch from Edappal to Kuttippuram is in a bad shape (it has been like that for quite some time now)

[ssriram75]

Originally Posted by sonygabriel

We went to kottayam during the Independence day weekend, and drove through one of the routes suggested..

Ktym - Kumali - Theni - Dindigul - Karur - Namakkal - Salem - B'lore (about 625 kms in all).

Roads are great except for some small patches of bad road in Ktym - Kumali route, and few deviations you need to take in NH7 as the 4 laning is still happening.

Thoroughly enjoyed the TN roads straight, smooth and very less traffic. Trip took longer as it was raining hammer and tongs and very difficult to drive under the heavy rain at night on NH7 (as many places are still not completed). Avoid this stretch at night (b/w Dindigul & Salem)

How long did this take? I plan to go on this route to Kumarakom from BLR.

[neel24neo]

Originally Posted by hellstar

yesterday , i came home to tirvandrum and was pleasantly surprised by the lovey roads .

Started from home at 0400 Hrs from Banaswadi , bangalore parked my car at my home at trivandrum , kannamoola at 1430 hrs .

Route taken : Bangalore -> Krishnagiri->Salem -> Nammakal -> Dindiguil -> rajapalayam -> tenkasi -> Shencottai-> Kulathupuzha-> Trivandrum

dist : 700 Kms approx door to door
Drive time : 10 hrs including a stop for break fast and one for lunch must be over an hour of stop time .

Lovely roads all the way till kerala border and the ghat section ( some deviations and rough road cut offs in between but nothing that would hamper a pleasant journey) , after which the uneven surfaces dont allow you to do anything over 60 kmph.

this is by far the fastest trip to TVM , which was a pleasant surprise , because i was not driving over 140 kmph at any point in time . Cruising at 120 kmph most of the time.

I reached shencottai at 1300 hrs the rest of the trip slowed us down cosiderably but the greens and the lovely scenery kept us good company... about 20 kms on this last section is horrible , but the rest was rain affected roads are very driveable no huge caters .

saw a bad accident at Thirumangalam before rajapalayam, tanker and car , in all saw about 9 accident most of them trucks only the one at thirumanagalam involved a car .

Hi
What is the exact state of roads from Tenkasi to Thenmala? I remember there was no road in this stretch for about 15km last year....I am planning a kodaikanal trip next month and am considering thirumangalam - rajapalayam - tenkasi - tenmala - trivandrum route for the return journey, but it would depend on the status of the roads in this section.

[benz_vasu]

What is the best route to Cannanore from Bangalore, if quality of road is the crietria?

[trrk]

Hi,

Originally Posted by neel24neo

Hi
What is the exact state of roads from Tenkasi to Thenmala?

As of now, it is fine.

[Prithvi]

Any idea on the road conditions from Blore to Cochin as on date?

[shajufx]

Even I am curious to know the latest update ! Anyone took a drive this week ? As Dussehra holidays begin on 18th this month, my long drive is due in the next 8 days. Present plan in mind:

Bangalore - Calicut : Via bidadi, channapatna, mysore, muthanga, meenangady, vythiri, thamarassery, calicut (visit beach and stay overnight) around 360 kms

Calicut - Koothattukulam : Via kottackal, edappal, thrissur, chalakudi, angamaly, muvattupuzha, Koothattukulam (around 250 kms, not sure)

Return will be Palakkad, coimbatore, avinashi, bhavani, thoppur, dharmapuri, krishnagiri, Hosur route. Suggestions, tips etc. related to any part of this route are welcome with great gratitude. Thanks.

[hellstar]

Originally Posted by neel24neo

Hi
What is the exact state of roads from Tenkasi to Thenmala? I remember there was no road in this stretch for about 15km last year....I am planning a kodaikanal trip next month and am considering thirumangalam - rajapalayam - tenkasi - tenmala - trivandrum route for the return journey, but it would depend on the status of the roads in this section.

Hi,
I would suggest that you continue on the NH to kollam and then come to trivandrum if you want to save time , again this would depend on the time that you are passing by this section. thenmala - TVM section road is so-so . Other wise during daytime this section is a slow section in contrast to the fast sections upto rajapalayam and tenkasi.

[dreamdiesel]

Originally Posted by Prithvi

Any idea on the road conditions from Blore to Cochin as on date?

I drove back from Cochin to Bangalore on the 9th Sep, 09. I took the folloing route back to Bangalore:

Kochi – Aluva – Thrissur – Palakkad – Coimbatore – Avanashi – Perundurai – Bhavani – Salem - Thoppur – Dharmapuri – Krishnagiri – Hosur – Bangalore

Out of Kochi roads are rough with broken tarmac and lots of deviations till Aluva. Some parts of 4 lane roads are good. From Aluva the 2 lane road is good at some stretches with very regular potholes till Outskirts of Coimbatore. Watch out for a couple of really big potholes after Thrissur. Coimbatore bypass is super smooth till Avanashi. But the 2 lane NH is very narrow to overtake and one tends to get stuck behind slow moving trucks for a long time. From Perundurai its a super smooth 4 lane NH. I made a wrong decision and made my way towards Salem on the 4 lane NH which was in a very bad shape with lots of condstruction going on and added to that heavy rains. From Salem to Bangalore its Super smooth 4 lane NH7.

I would suggest you take the following route to Kochi:

Bangalore – Hosur – Krishnagiri – Dharmapuri – Thoppur (Exit NH7 and turn Right) – Mettur – Bhavani (Join NH47) – Perundurai – Avanashi – Coimbatore – Palakkad – Thrissur – Aluva – Kochi.

[buvan]

Hi BHPians

I need your help for my 2000+kms Bike trip(Thunderbird twinspark, Karizma R, Bullet 500) which includes ooty, goa , athirampally ,vaalparai and many other places.

Can you please let me the road conditions of Mangalore to chalakudy. Heard NH17 is not good. is there any other interesting route? if so can you please let me know the route ,distance, places to visit etc.

Also please let me know the distance from Shravanabelagola to Agumbe and Road condition

I have attached my trip plan here

[mogambo]

I usually do Bangalore - Trichur via Mysore-Bandipur-Nilambur.
Thinking of the NH this time (K'giri - Thoppur - Bhavani - Palakkad).

Any opinion on which is the better road after the heavy rains over the last few weeks?

Is the Bandipur route gone v bad or is it decently drivable ?

Thanks in advance

-r